Gravid?

[nemisis]

Hi...I have suspicions that my leucistic female might be "in a family way", but since I've only ever owned males before, I'm not sure. She's only about 4in long but she has a very fat belly...it looks quite swollen & at first I thought "OMG, she's got gas bubble disease!",but the male in the tank with her seems absolutley fine & she's not floating or off her food or anything & I can't see any other signs of illness...also the wildtype male I have in with her seems quite fascinated with her...any help much appreciated,
Ash

 

[john]

Axolotls don't reach sexual maturity until at least 7 inches (17.5 cm).

 

[nemisis]

I thought she was a bit little! In that case I'm a bit worried about her...she seems to have swollen around her abdomen reigion and feels very heavy when picked up in the water. Again, the male in the tank is happy as Larry & she doesn't appear stressed, just a little more resistant to being handled (my other 2 seem to enjoy being handled as it usually means feeding time!)
Does it sound like there's anything wrong? I'd hate to lose her!
Many thanx - Ash

<:",~,~~~

 

[nemisis]

It's all cool...turns out the silly bint had been eating her gravel (!)
Changed the substrate to large pebbles & everything is a O.K

 

[buttercup]

A Plea for help to save my beloved Midnight

In my tank i have (or had) 2 axolotls. My male is Black and is called Midnight, and he is very upset. He keeps on trying to climb out of the water and has refused all food offered to him for days. I have been upset to because his friend Buttercup -the female golden albino in the tank with him- has died and only a few hours ago! It's very sad and i have been crying for hours, and it seems i will never stop! When we found her and took her out she was very swollen and we buried her and gave her a funeral in the garden.
This is a plea to you for any advice or help you can offer to save my male and very beloved Midnight. I think he may be infected with whatever killed Buttercup or just strikken with grief, please help

Amber

Contact me at;
ambi_dragonzden @australink.net

 

[Jennewt]

Axolotls do not suffer grief. More likely, he is stressed by whatever killed the other one. The swollen appearance of the one that died could indicate a bacterial infection. The frantic climbing suggests something wrong with the water. However, these are just guesses.

How long have you had them? How big is the tank? How do you take care of the water quality? Do you have a water test kit? Have you added anything to the tank recently (chemical or object, or anything at all)?